The science fiction short story that I decided to read for this literary
analysis paper was Day Million by Frederick Pohl. Set in the future, it
is about two lovers named Don and Dora. The citizens in the short story are given
two sexes in one individual. One is given to them genetically, and the other is
chosen by the person later in their lives. The girl, Dora, is born with the
physical body of a male, but her psychology reveals that she must have been
born a female. The doctors decide to change her physical body to a female. When
she is leaving her house to go to her rehearsal hall one day, she falls into Don’s
arms. They fell in love at first sight and decided to get married on the
following Wednesday. They invite many of their close friends to the wedding to
cheer the lovers on. They whispered many things to each other while they were
getting their identities taped and recorded. After the wedding, they part ways
and keep their personality recordings of one another. Whenever they feel the
slightest desire for the other, they can feel their presence deeply and fully
through the recordings. The perspective that I have decided to look at in this
paper about how love is love. Love in the story is presented with no strings
attached and is shown as two main aspects within the story.  

            The first major aspect that love is
love comes from an important quote that says, “In a way, he probably would have
looked peculiar to a man from the 20th century, with his glowing eyes and
seven-fingered hands; but to himself, and of course to Dora, he looked mighty
manly and grand” (Pohl 1). Typically, people in society that had
looks like Don would be alienated from the members of society, but according to
Dora, appearance does not matter to her at all. Dora does not care that Don is
187 years old as well. Don and Dora’s great love for one another is not
emphasized by physical appearance or age, but by the many ways in which they
love each other for who they are on the inside. The colorful picture that I included on
the side shows the passion that they have for one another. Another great quote
that highlights this is, “Not in the flesh of course; but then his flesh has
been extensively altered and its wouldn’t really be much fun. He doesn’t need
the flesh for pleasure. Genital organs feel nothing. Neither do hands, nor
breasts, nor lips; they are only receptors, accepting and transmitting
impulses. It is the brain that feels, it is the interception of those impulses
that makes agony or orgasm; and Don’s symbol-manipulator gives him the analogue
of cuddling, the analogue of kissing, the analogue of wildest, most ardent
hours with the eternal, exquisite and incorruptible analogue of Dora” (Pohl 4).
This quote explains how body parts are not what are loved. It is the memories
and the personalities of the lovers that is loved and endured forever.

            Another major
aspect that love is love comes from this quote, “How angrily you recoil from
the page! You say, who the hell wants to read about a pair of queers?” (Pohl 1).
This quote talks about transgenderism and homosexuality in today’s society. The
narrator is labeled as a conservative thinker who is not accepting of the ideas
that appear in the story. Many of the conservatives today are opposed to the
concepts of homosexuality and transgenderism in the LGBT+ community. Some of
these people are often termed as either “transphobic” or “homophobic”. Many members
of the LGBT+ community do not feel accepted and they are afraid to come out to show
who they really are and who they want to be as human beings. The story gives a
little bit of hope that in the future, people will be more accepting of all
people and everyone will be properly represented. The people in the story do
not care that Dora is not a girl genetically and that she is transgender; they
are accepting of Dora for who she is and Dora is comfortable with herself.

            Day Million is an atypical love story that has touched on many
important concepts today. One of the most important concepts in the story is
the fact that love is love. The main characters do not think of love as
physical appearance, but instead, their different personalities and memories of
one another. Gender, looks, and age are all demolished and displayed to be
unnecessary. The story also brings up the concept of transgenderism and
homosexuality. It teaches the readers that it is okay to be different from one
another and that it is okay to come out to be the real person that you are. This
gives the person the possibility to be happy in his or her own life but also creates
a progressive society for the future in which people are accepting of everyone.
Day Million presents a world that has invented brand new technology that
is far beyond what we are capable of doing present day. The short story makes
people think about what our society is going to be like in the future and what
are relationships are going to look like. I normally do not read much science
fiction, but I really enjoyed reading this story because it talked about many
issues that are relevant today.